Gun-barrel cleaner



J. F. McCANNA.

GUN BARREL CLEANER.

APPLICATION min N0v.4.192o.

Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

Patented Nov. i4, 1922.

'so i, fr f f, i .dit nrt 'i a te im JOHN F. MCCANNA., OF'DEINE, TEXAS.

GUN-BRREL CLEANER.

Application led November 4, 1920. Serial No. 421,658.

useful mprovements in Gunlarrel Glean-` ers,of which the following is a specification.

rIhis inventionl relates to devices 'for cleaning the barrels oft shot guns, riflesv and the like.

The primary object of my inventionis to. provide a simple and novel means ,for cleaningY and also oiling thebarrel of a gun in a most satisfactory manner.

Heretofore, devices employed for this p urposehavebeen unsatisfactory by reason of the fact that when used by an inexperienced person the. surface of the barrel will invariably be injured. lt is the purpose of the present inyentiona to provvidel a cleaning device Whichwill not injure the barrel., especially the muzzle en d of a'shot gun, the symmetry of which controlsthe pattern of the shot.

This object is attained by the provision of a handlefstop on the cleanerrod which when properly set, limits thev projection of .the cleaner pads through the barrel. That is,Y the pads are not passed entirely through thebarrel but suiiiciently to insuregthorough cleaning and prevent irregular wear of vthe muzzleend.v

I have also aimed to provide a gun barrel cleaner in which l the cleaning elements, pieces of fine wire gauze, may be' quickly and easily applied or removed as occasion may require. Y.

A `,further object is to provide a cleaner having a pair of resilient wire-gauze covered ingers adjustable v ry simply to accommodate gun barrels of different gauges.

`My invention also contemplates the construction of a gun barrel cleaner embodying` the foregoing objects, in such simple and novel d esign as to be thoroughly practical and efficient for the purposes in mind and to be capable of economical production.

Other objects and attendant advantages will be appreciatedby those familiar with this art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in. which* Figure 1 is a view of a gun barrel cleaner en'ibodyingmy invention, as used in cleaning a shot gun;

n i110'. 2, a view of the gun cleaner removed from the gun;

Figs. 3 and ll, enlarged through the cleaning pad and handle ends,

respectively, of the. gun cleaner;

Fig. 5, a topview of the pad holder shown in Fig. 3;

cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1.;

i, a. view of a piece of wire gauze tofbe wrapped about one of the cleaner pad fingers; and

Fig. 8, a view of a modiiied holder arms.

My improvements consist, lgeneially stated, of a rod 11 equipped'` at one endgwith a cleaner pad holder designated generally by character 1:2 and atthe opposite end with a combined handle and stop 13. The rod may be made up of two or more sections detachably connected together, in the present instance these rods being' tubular and con nectedz bythreaded coupling studs 14.

The pad holder is in the form of a pair of curvedv resilient fingers 15 mounted' in any suitable manner on the rod 1,1 and adapted to be spread or closed by adjustment of a-block 16 interposed between the lingers. in ythev example shown in Fig. 3, the fingers are formed integral with a tubular shank 17 lwhich is fix'eelyr rotatable on 'a threaded pi n`18 fixed to the rod `11. The block 16y screwed onto the pin 18.5acts as a wedge when drawn between the Ainclined faces of the fingers-12 by ,turningI the rod relatively to .the fingers and spreads the arms or causes them `to contract, Ydepending on whether the wedge is tightened or loosened, as will be obvious. These fingers might be formed from a single piece of sheet metal as shown in Fig. 8, the shank of the arms abuttingv against the shoulder on the rod and a wedge .block 19 being employed to spread the fingers 21. The wedge blocks 16 and 19 function aliketo cause spreading or contracting of the fingers 15. To spread the fingers they willl be held by one hand and the rod 11 turned to the right with the other hand, thereby turning the screw 18 and causing the block 16 or 19 4as the case may be, to move axially on the screw, 18 to the right, viewing Figs., 3;, and 8, spreading thefingers 15 outwardly.

form of pad sectional views to the shape thereof.

turning the rod 1i in the opposite direction the fingers l5 will be contracted due to their spring tendency to return to a closed position. The fingers in either form are preferably provided along their longitudinai edges with small spurs 22 which serve tcretain the cleaning pads in position. The cleaning pads are preferably small rectangular sheets of fine wire gauze 23,0ne adapted to be wound about each finger so as to entirely envelop the same and conform These pads may manifestly be easily applied and removed whenever necessary.

. The handle 18 is so constructed as to be freely slidable lengthwise on the rod 1l and provision is made for securing the handle. at any position to which it has been moved. To this end, any suitable clamping device such. for example as a set screw. may be employed. At present I have equipped the handle with a transverse bushing 24, through which the rod li passes. A set screw in the bushing 24 is adapted to be r tightened at will to hold the handle at any set position.

From they foregoing it will be manifest that before cleaning a gun the handle stop should be set. That is, the cleaner rod will be passed through the barrel from the breech end thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, until the elongated fingers are about half wayprojected beyond the muzzle end of the barrel, whereupon the handle should be set against the breech end to serve as a stop. This insures against passing the cleaner pads entirely through the barrel an'l causing uneven wear on the muzzle end by the ngers spreading and being forced together again over the edge of the barrel.

In time, such uneven wear would destroy the symmetry of the pattern, but by the use of my improved cleaner the barrel will be cleaned evenly from end to end and without liability of injuring the pattern of the shot.

Another feature is the ready adaptability of the cleaner to dierent gauge guns. This is automatically accomplished to a certain extent by the resiliency of the fingers, and to a fine degree of nicety by adjustment of the block 16 to obtain the most suitable tension. It will also be noted that by reason of the finger construction the wire gauze will be securely held in position and yet may be quickly removed and replaced by new gauze at any time.

Still another feature is the presentation of new cleaning surfaces to the internal wall of the barrel while the cleaner is in the barrel. That is, by turning thehandie 13 to increase the tension on the fingers l5,

the arc of the fingers will be changed, causing the line of contact to approachv the rear end of the fingers in proportion to the increased pressure. It follows that by contracting and expanding the fingers by such adjustment, new cleaning surfaces will be presented to the barrel duringv the cleaning operation, thereby enabling better and more effective cleaning.

By dropping a little oil on the gauze pads they serve the purpose both of cleaning and oiling. The gauze Vbody retains the oil which works out by capillary attraction. Thus the oil is, in fact, self-feeding.

it is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of the principles and objects prefaced above, and while )I have illustrated but a preferred embodiment, it shall be understood that various changes might be made in the construction without departing'from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

. l. A gun barrel cleaner comprising, a rod, a pair of resilient fingers mounted on one end of the rodV with capacity to turn about the axis of the rod and arched outwardly at their medial portions providing converging forward and rear ends, removable cleaning means on said fingers, and means operated by rotation of the rod with respect to said fingers for exerting outward pressure on the fingers and for varying said pressure, whereby to vary the local presentation of the cleaningk means to the internal wall of the barrel at points longitudinally spaced on said fingers.

2. A gun barrel cleaner comprising a rod, a pair of resilient fingers carried by the rod and curved outwardly at their medial portions, providing converging forward and rear ends, barrel cleaning means on said fingers, and means operative between the rod and fingers for adjusting said fingers in the barrel by rotation of the rod with respect to the fingers to vary the locall presentation of the cleaning means to the internal wall of the barrel at points longitudinally spaced on said'fingers.

3. A gun barrel cleaner comprising a rod, cleaning pads carried onone end of the rod, means whereby said pads may be expanded by rotation of the rod with respect to the pads, and a handle adjustable lengthwise on the opposite end of the rod constituting a stop for limiting projection of the cleaner pads through ak barrel, and constituting also a manually operable means for moving the cleaner' lengthwise in the barrel and a man ually operable means for rotatably adjustingthe rod to expand or contract the cleaner pads.

4. A gun barre-l cleaner comprising a rod, a cleaning device carried on one end of the rod, means whereby said device may be eX panded and contracted by rotation of the rod with respect to said device, and a combined handle and stop adjustable lengthwise on the opposite end of the rod and adapted for limiting projection of said device through a barrel and for rotation to adjust said cleaning device.

5. A gun barrel cleaner comprising a rod having a fixed threaded member at one end, a member having a shank rotatably supported on said end and carrying a pair of separated cleaning fingers, and a part threadingly engaged on said threaded member between the fingers and adapted by relative rotation of the finger member and rod to effect greater or less separation of the fingers, whereby such adjustment of the fingers may be effected by rotation of the opposite end of the rod when the fingers are disposed in a barrel.

6. A gun barrel cleaner including cleanersupporting parts in the form of elongated oppositely curved, resilient lingers, said fingers having inwardly pointed serrations along their longitudinal side edges, and cleaning means wrapped about said fingers and held against displacement by said serrated edges.

gun barrel cleaner, comprising a suitable rod equipped at one end with a pair of resilient ngers arched outwardly at their medial portions so as to provide converging forward and rear ends, the former of which are separated and freely resilient, inwardly directed spurs along the longitudinal edges of the fingers, and a wire gauze sheath Wrapped about each linger and retained in position by said spurs.

8. The combination of a rod having a reduced threaded end, a. member fitting loosely on said end and having a pair of resilient curved fingers, a member threadingly engaged on said end between the fingers and adapted by relatively turning the first mentioned member and the threaded member to effect expansion or contratcion of said fingers, and cleaning material carried by each finger and effective on the outer curved sides thereof.

9. A gun barrel cleaner comprising a rod, a threaded member fixed on one end of the rod, a plurality of resilient, arched fingers supported on said rod with capacity to turn about the axis thereof, and a wedge block threadingly engaged on said threaded member and located between said fingers whereby to separate the latter by rotation of the rod with respect to the fingers.

JOHN F. MCCANNA. 

